After tense week at Pennsylvania capitol, counties and nonprofits brace for lengthy funding gap
NONPROFITS. TOM. YEAH, JERRY. EVEN WITH HOUSE DEMOCRATS AND A FEW REPUBLICANS PASSING A $50.25 BILLION BUDGET YESTERDAY, THE REALITY IS THAT SENATE REPUBLICANS ARE NOT BULLISH ABOUT THAT PROPOSAL. AND AS A RESULT, WE ARE IN A SITUATION WHERE WE MAY NOT HAVE AN IMPASSE. CONCLUSION REALLY ANY TIME SOON. AND THAT MEANS FOR A LOT OF COUNTIES, SCHOOLS AND NONPROFITS THAT HELP SOME OF THE NEEDIEST PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITIES, TIMES COULD BE GETTING TOUGH VERY SOON. A HUNDRED DAYS LATER, WHILE HOUSE DEMOCRATS AND SENATE REPUBLICANS LOBBED SHARP CRITICISM AT EACH OTHER THIS WEEK. AARON SCHICK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMON SENSE ADOPTION AND FOSTER SERVICES, WAS SPENDING HER TIME CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS AS STATE FUNDING REMAINS OUT OF REACH. I REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’LL DO. OUR BANK MAY BE ABLE TO HELP US EXTEND THAT LINE OF CREDIT, BUT THAT’S A BIG UNCERTAINTY. IT’S A BIG UNKNOWN. SCHICK SAYS KIDS AND FAMILIES, HELPED BY COMMON SENSE, WILL SUFFER IF THE IMPASSE CONTINUES. SHE AND STAFFERS COULD SOON BE WORKING WITHOUT PAY. WE DON’T HAVE A CHOICE. I MEAN, I HAVE TO KEEP I HAVE TO KEEP DOING THIS WORK. BURWOOD YOST WITH THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH AT FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE, SAYS PENNSYLVANIA’S GOVERNMENT MAY NOT BE SHUT DOWN, BUT THE LACK OF A STATE BUDGET IS NOT POPULAR. VOTERS DON’T LIKE IT WHEN WHEN IT HAPPENS, THEY BECOME VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE FUNCTIONING OF THE STATE AND THE QUALITY OF THEIR STATE. GOVERNMENT REALLY HARMS THEIR TRUST. AND WHILE HOUSE LAWMAKERS CONTINUE DEBATING A SPENDING PLAN, DAUPHIN COUNTY COMMISSIONER JUSTIN DOUGLAS SAYS TAXPAYERS ARE THE ONES GETTING HURT. WE HAVE RESERVES THAT WE’RE USING TO COVER THE COST, BUT WE’RE NOT ABLE TO GET INTEREST ON THOSE RESERVES. AND THE LACK OF INTEREST HAS COST US ABOUT $300,000 AT THIS POINT. NOW, CHICK MADE ONE PARTICULAR SUGGESTION ABOUT THIS SITUATION. SHE SAID SHE THINKS IT’S NOT FAIR, FRANKLY, THAT LAWMAKERS CONTINUE TO GET PAID AS THIS BUDGET IMPASSE CONTINUES HERE AT THE CAPIT
Updated: 8:05 PM EDT Oct 9, 2025
After tense week at Pennsylvania capitol, counties and nonprofits brace for lengthy funding gap
Updated: 8:05 PM EDT Oct 9, 2025
While House Democrats and Senate Republicans lobbed sharp criticisms at each other under the capitol dome this week, Erin Chick was busy crunching the numbers.Chick, the executive director of Common Sense Adoption and Foster Care, said the debate over the now 101-day-overdue spending plan, and the billions of dollars it releases to counties, schools, and nonprofits across the commonwealth, could soon get expensive.”I really don’t know what we’ll do. Our bank may be able to help us extend that line of credit. But that’s a big uncertainty. A big unknown,” Chick said.Chick noted that the children and families supported by Common Sense will suffer if the impasse continues, and she and her staff might have to work without pay.”We don’t have a choice. We have to keep doing this work,” she said.Berwood Yost, who heads the Center for Public Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall College, said that while Pennsylvania’s government is not shut down, the absence of a state budget is unpopular.”Voters don’t like it when it happens. They become very concerned about the functioning of the state. And the quality of their state government. Really, it harms their trust,” Yost said.Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas highlighted the financial impact on taxpayers and local governments, which are depleting their reserves.”We have reserves to cover the cost, but we can’t collect interest on those reserves, and that’s cost us $300,000 so far,” Douglas said.
While House Democrats and Senate Republicans lobbed sharp criticisms at each other under the capitol dome this week, Erin Chick was busy crunching the numbers.
Chick, the executive director of Common Sense Adoption and Foster Care, said the debate over the now 101-day-overdue spending plan, and the billions of dollars it releases to counties, schools, and nonprofits across the commonwealth, could soon get expensive.
“I really don’t know what we’ll do. Our bank may be able to help us extend that line of credit. But that’s a big uncertainty. A big unknown,” Chick said.
Chick noted that the children and families supported by Common Sense will suffer if the impasse continues, and she and her staff might have to work without pay.
“We don’t have a choice. We have to keep doing this work,” she said.
Berwood Yost, who heads the Center for Public Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall College, said that while Pennsylvania’s government is not shut down, the absence of a state budget is unpopular.
“Voters don’t like it when it happens. They become very concerned about the functioning of the state. And the quality of their state government. Really, it harms their trust,” Yost said.
Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas highlighted the financial impact on taxpayers and local governments, which are depleting their reserves.
“We have reserves to cover the cost, but we can’t collect interest on those reserves, and that’s cost us $300,000 so far,” Douglas said.